Companion
by Eduard Kassel
Summary: We are shaped not only by our selves, but by those around us. When two children meet, the fate of an entire universe changes. AU inspired by Smashing Skunk53.


_Disclaimer:_ I do not own Dragon Ball Z or Bojack unbound.

 _Betaed by:_ Smashing Skunk53 & Zim'smostloyalservant

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Companion

 **Capsules, Ponies, & Pick'in Fights**

Bulma sometimes wondered when in her life she had given up on stuff making sense. When she had accepted that a reasonable progression was not to be expected and it was better to roll with the punches and see if you could hit back or if it was better to fall over. Sure, she still got angry when life hit her with nonsensicals, but it was just steam. She wasn't really angry.

Except when she really was.

"DAD! You stupid pervert! I'll get you for this!" Bulma screamed at the wall of Kami's spaceship, shaking her fist toward the engines, and with that in the general direction of Earth.

She had just opened the last capsule for food supplies, and it seemed her dear old father had gotten them… mixed up. Again!

"What is this?" Gohan asked, picking up something no boy under 15 should know exists, in her opinion. Bulma swatted the thing from his hands, feeling her face turn redder.

"Gohan, go wash your hands. In fact, take a shower, that's an order!" she demanded. Gohan looked at her like she was spouting crazy people gibberish.

"But isn't it…?"

"Gohan. Shower. Now!" Bulma demanded, pointing toward the washroom.

Once he was out of sight, Bulma opened the appropriate capsule to get cleaning supplies and grabbed the push broom. Grumbling threats and, in Krillin's opinion rather hypocritical, denunciations of perversion, she pushed the large pile of evidence of her parents' sexual life into the airlock.

"Well at least you know your parents have a healthy love life into old age. Probably will run in the family," Krillin assured the beet-red blue-haired woman.

"Vileness! I banish you to the void!" Bulma shrieked, spacing the stuff. She kicked the interior door for good measure and then slumped down, her fit passing.

"That… was supposed to be part of our food supplies?" Krillin prompted.

"Grekek," Bulma made a noise.

"But your dad must have gotten distracted while examining the ship-"

"Eeeee," Bulma seemed to be loosing air.

"And put that in instead," Krillin concluded. Bulma, with wobbling knees, looked around the ship.

"So much. Why even…? Must sanitize… everything," She muttered.

"But the food!" Krillin pressed, as Bulma shambled over to the recently encapsulated supply locker.

"Don't worry, I ordered Dad to pack an excess," Bulma said, wrestling an oil drum-sized container of bleach out of the cabinet.

"What difference will one missing capsule make?" she asked, putting a cleaning mask over her nose and mouth.

 _Later_ :

Bulma now recalled exactly when her life had become tied forever and ever to madness. It was the day she shot a little boy in face, and he survived. From that day forth, the gods had cursed her perfect life with adventures where she was certain she was at best a supporting character, and perhaps even condemned to comic relief!

Case in point — she was boldly going where no woman had gone before and landing on an alien world, and only one thing was on her mind. While there were too many things on Gohan's mind!

"You want me to go look for food?" Gohan asked.

"Yes, Gohan! Once we land, you can forage up some grub and whatever else you kids call food these days! I even printed out a map for ya. We won't be far from the only big city on the planet even," she smiled, handing him the map. Gohan looked at the map but still seemed puzzled.

"But the capsules-"

"It spoiled," Krillin said.

"How could it-"

"Oh, Gohan, no one ever said capsules were perfect," Bulma waved off the question.

"You have," he answered Bulma. The little boy clearly was thinking too much, and Bulma's eyebrow twitched. Then the ship rattled as they landed, a green light blinking on over the airlock.

"Oh Gohan, no time to think abut the past! There's adventure awaiting you right outside that door that any boy your age would be thrilled to have!" Bulma said, grabbing the boy's shoulders and turning him toward the door.

They finally shooed Gohan out the door with the Taster and map in hand. With the door closed, they continued to smile at it before their stomachs loudly growled and they collapsed to the floor, groaning.

 **X X X**

What a pretty world, Gohan thought, hanging in the air over the woodlands. He didn't see any green; shades of purple and blue seemed to be most common. The grass he could see was a pale robin's egg blue, with a pinkish sky over head.

It was, well, alien! But refreshing after being cooped up in that ship. Did the air smell different here? He wasn't sure. Bulma said that with a compatible atmosphere there should be plenty of "edibles" here. The Taster device was hanging on his belt, a bit like a metal dousing rod with a retractable point. Bulma said to just stab stuff with the point, and the light would turn green for edible, red for poison, and yellow unknowable. She was very clear to count yellow as red.

Gohan would have liked to explore; this reminded him of his dad's stories. But the adults had trusted him to do this, and besides, this was no fun trip.

Nodding, he decided to head for that city. It'd be quicker to find stuff in a market than just foraging, like he had learned under Mr. Piccolo.

The city was round, Gohan noted as he flew close to it. From the smaller neighborhoods stretching out into farmland to six story tall buildings dominating the downtown, he didn't think there was a single sharp corner in the buildings and roads. Everything curved. And it was a lot more still than any city he had ever seen. Or town for that matter. Where was everyone?

His gut said trouble, and he was inclined to agree. Swiftly descending to the ground, he landed in a street bordered by small one story houses.

"Well, this is a problem," Gohan thought, looking up and down the street. This looked like a suburb, but it was deserted. Hmm… closing his eyes, he could sense, presumably, people in the houses.

Maybe they were nocturnal here? This could be the middle of the night for them.

No, maybe if it was a village or something, but that big city seemed dead too. Crossing his arms, Gohan sighed; this was going to be more adventure than exotic food markets, he had a feeling. And he just realized he didn't have any money to pay for any food he sampled, anyway.

The hooved creature came into sight, and Gohan once again saw a true blue alien. Though it was purple instead, mostly.

The alien looked to be female, with what looked like four small breasts pressing against the short-sleeved bright orange shirt she wore. His story times had included centaurs, and that seemed to be what she was — below the waist, the purple furry woman changed to a purple horse. The face was framed by shoulder length curly blonde hair, the face itself dominated by a broad flat nose and two big blue eyes. And the alien seemed strong, too, judging by the muscles in the flexed arms that were carrying barrels nearly as big as her horse body, one each propped on the shoulders.

As Gohan watched, the centaur lady put down one of the barrels with ease, and with her free hand unstoppered the remaining barrel. And proceeded to water one of her hedges.

The mundane act brought Gohan back to the moment. And it now occurred to him that if money was a problem, maybe he could do some quick chore work for someone for a bit of cash?

"Hello!" he called out, stepping off the street and onto the centaur's lawn.

The centaur turned, spilling water on the lawn, and caught sight of him. She dropped the barrel and reared up on her hind legs, screaming in a high pitched whiny. Then fell over, passed out.

"Oh," Gohan remarked.

 _Shortly_ :

Gohan found himself standing on a cushion, as the centaurs didn't seem to have chairs in the house. Though they knew what a chair was, pointing out they wished they had one for him.

The woman from the front, Abbicus, was making tea while her husband, whose name he hadn't caught, sat at the table next to Gohan. The pictures on the wall indicated they had two children, with brown hair like the dad's. And they all seemed to wear that bright orange color.

"So, a two legged alien has been terrorizing you?" Gohan asked Abbicus' husband. He started to speak, but Abbicus cut in, smacking the tray of tea cups onto the table.

"The Dreaded Dread One, whom we dread! She is unstoppable. She destroyed the Queen and her entire army in only two days!"

"That's terrible!" Gohan gasped

"Not really, the queen was a jerk," the male centaur said, sipping his tea. Abbicus swayed with emotion at the thoughts in her head

"Yes, she was the Tyrannical Queen who is a Tyrant. Well, was a tyrant. She hoarded all the food stores under her palace to prevent rebellion, wrecked the economy with a poor tax package, spent the tax money on personal luxuries for her and the elites, required everyone not of elite status to wear only this shade of orange, commandeered all spacecraft which were held at the royal spaceport under guard-"

"The Dreaded Dread One blew that up," the husband cut back in.

"- and spent a fortune on a throne, an actual big chair! How did she even sit in it? And don't worry about the army being dead, she got rid of anyone who wasn't on board with her tyrannical tyranny. They were an evil army of evil. Well, not all of them, I suppose — cousin Cyerb wasn't evil. But he wasn't good either. I mean, Cyerb wasn't the type to take the last piece of cake, but he was the type to swipe a second piece when he thought no one was looking, you know what I mean?" Abbicus said. Gohan shook his head; given that the centaur smiled, Gohan wondered if shaking your head meant something different here.

"Did you say all the food was in the castle?" Gohan asked. Though he was glad to know it was bad guys who died. And why they were wearing that stupid shade of orange.

"Yes, that's why we can only offer you tea! It's famine, I tell you. Ten days the Dreaded Dread One has been in there, feasting and ordering about the staff and destroying stuff, gathering treasure, and we get nothing! Soon she will snap and go an rampage! It's the end of the world, the world ending!" Abbicus shouted dramatically, and then took a sip of her tea.

"End of ends," her husband agreed, sipping his own tea.

"Um, you know me and my friends are warriors, and we are pretty strong. We also need food. So maybe we could have some of the food if we took care of… the invader?" Gohan asked.

Soon enough, he was seen off the street by a cheering crowd, wondering just what he had gotten himself into as he flew toward the castle.

 _Meanwhile, Back at the Ship:_

Bulma and Krillin sat on the floor back to back, their stomachs growling.

"Why did we lie again?" Krillin asked.

"Because if we told him we were out of food and had been giving him it all, he'd either feel guilty or turn into some Saiyan monster that would eat us to survive," Bulma groaned.

"I'm pretty sure he wouldn't eat us," Krillin protested weakly,

"Pretty sure?" Bulma demanded.

"Well, I was pretty sure Goku wasn't a space alien, then Raditz happened," Krillin admitted.

"I was pretty sure Goku's tail was fake when I met him. I don't bet my life on pretty sure," Bulma moaned as her stomach growled again.

"I never thought I'd die of starvation. Lots of stuff, but not that," Krillin commented.

"I'm a frail, delicate lady, I'm supposed to wither if I don't get proper care. But aren't warrior monks like you supposed be able to live off a grain of rice and the energy of the universe or something?" Bulma moaned.

"That's not a thing," Krillin groaned.

"…Why didn't I wish for a bottomless supply of strawberries wen I had the chance!" Bulma wept.

"Yeah, why didn't you!" Krillin agreed.

 **X X X**

The redundantly named Royal Palace of Majestic Royal Majesty had seen better days, Gohan noted as he touched down outside the gates. It looked like a series of towers painted with brightly colored stripes, all emerging from a plain white stone building about one story tall. About half the towers were broken, their ruins lying all over the plaza inside the gateway.

The gate itself was mostly gone. Judging by the burned edges on the remaining wood, the invader had walked right up to the gates, and 'knocked'. And since she could apparently fly, he wasn't quite sure what that said about her.

Still no corpses lying around, he noted. Thinking of Mr. Piccolo, he opened his senses to get another bead on the ki. It was strong, not as strong as Vegeta had been, but stronger than Nappa.

"But I am stronger now," Gohan told himself. Still, he wanted to get Krillin; what would be the harm delaying this until they got back?

Unless in that time she went on a rampage like Nappa had. This city… it would only take minutes for her to kill everyone still here. Or destroy the food stores, ensuring a famine for anyone who escaped.

There was harm in delaying. He could do this. Chiatzou and Tien had been willing to lay down everything, even when they knew how bad their odds were. Mr. Piccolo, he'd chosen to die for the son of the man he hated. Even his dad had been willing to die to stop Raditz!

Yes, he wanted help! But doing what was 'needed' was more important, he fumed to himself!

Flaring his power, Gohan took flight toward the tower top chamber where the ki was emanating from. Arms crossed and eyes closed, he crashed through a stained glass window depicting a red maelstrom. Feet hitting the floor, he opened his eyes to a strange sight, that rather killed his momentum.

No one had mentioned that the Dreaded Dread One was a kid.

Said kid was seated on what had clearly been a throne, or rather lounging, and she reclined in it the wrong way, one hand grabbing a handful of tiny sandwiches off the laden banquet table, and stuffing them in her mouth. She was humanoid-looking, but with powder blue skin and icy blue eyes and a practical mane of curly orange hair that draped out of sight behind the table.

Gohan then noticed the far wall was stacked high with fancy furniture, coins of various metals, and piles of what looked like paper money, and a large bejeweled statue of a local woman that he guessed was the late, and unlamented, queen.

The invader turned to look at him, cheeks still puffed with half-chewed sandwiches. Eyes narrowing, she swallowed, revealing a cute face, and swung her legs around to sit properly in the chair.

"Are you the jester I ordered?" she demanded haughtily.

"Uh, no," Gohan answered. The girl made a thoughtful noise and grabbed a bottle of some purple liquid and took a drink from it.

"I have come, to end your terror?" Gohan said, as she kept drinking from the bottle until it was completely empty. Clearing her throat, she tossed it over her shoulder to shatter out of sight. Wiping her mouth with her right forearm, she looked him over and stood up on the throne, putting her hands on her hips. She was wearing a short sleeved purple vest with puffy sleeves over a black shirt. A thin belt with a simple golden buckle held a pair of white harem pants up.

"So there was another treasure trove," she remarked.

"I'm sorry?" he asked. Tilting her head, she frowned as if he had said something horribly dumb.

"So those ponies could hire someone to run me out. I mean, it's clearly not that much, it's not like the Ginyu Force are dancing all over this place," She said.

"No one is paying me," Gohan told her.

"So what's all this then? Trying to build your reputation or something? What are you even?" she asked. Still tilting her head with that expression, she walked to the edge of the table, looking down at him.

"Uh, we seem to not be communicating well," Gohan found himself falling back on manners, "Maybe we should try introductions?"

He flinched, that was stupid. He honestly thought it would just be fighting quickly or something.

The girl, however, grinned at that. She puffed out her chest, snapped her feet together in attention, raised her left hand with the palm facing out and smacked her right fist into it.

"Zangya nar Utanya, of Hera, the Heran Empire, the Great Galactic Domination. Apprentice Soldier of Lord Bojack's Elite Galaxy Soldier Squad," she proudly declared. Clasping her hands behind her back, she looked back to Gohan expectantly.

"Uh, Son Gohan, of Earth. Hi?" he said, waving awkwardly. Zangya sighed and knelt down to grab a loaf of bread, taking a bite out of it.

"So why are you here if the pony people didn't hire you?" she asked.

"Our ship ran out of food," Gohan admitted.

"So you want supplies? Well, I could sell some, but I will charge premium prices," she said, gesturing to the banquet with the loaf of bread.

"No, because that food doesn't belong to you," Gohan said with a bit of heat.

"Yeah it does, I killed the queen and her soldiers, so their stuff is now mine," Zangya said almost cheerily.

"The people out there are starving! Or almost anyway. And you think you can just hoard all this?" Gohan demanded.

"Course I can. Think you can do something about it? I've never even heard of Earth," she sneered at the name of his home.

"Well, I never heard of Hera," Gohan answered. Zangya frowned and dropped the bread.

"This is getting annoying," she said, raising her hand. Gohan dodged the ki blast, but was engulfed by the dust kicked up as it tore through the wall behind him.

"Fist of Hera!" she called out in front of him.

Reflex had his arm snap up, deflecting the jab for his face. The punch to his gut connected, and sent him flying back through the hole, out of the dust cloud and into the open air outside the tower. Stopping himself with the flight technique, he looked up to see her over him, hands clasped over her head. The overhead strike hit him like a hammer, and he plummeted to the courtyard, kicking up dust.

"Heh, and here I was hoping for some exercise," Zangya chuckled. Then the wind picked up and the dust was blown away, revealing Gohan hovering just above the stones, glaring back at her.

"Your party is over!" he declared, flying back up to face her. She just grinned, showing off some teeth.

"I am the youngest Heran to ever be taken as an apprentice Galaxy Soldier, boy. And the youngest ever sent off on my own like this. You're just a kid from a no-name planet, the most you'll do is work up my appetite-"

She cut herself off, charging Gohan, raising a knee to strike him. He blocked it with his arms and pushed back with enough force that she was sent backward.

Some boys may have been hesitant to hit a pretty girl. But Gohan had been raised knowing his mother was a warrior, and his teacher had never imparted such a lesson. So he didn't hesitate to strike her face with a right hook through that opening.

The alien girl reeled back and shot up into the air, baring her teeth. Yellow ki gathered in her right fist, which she extended one finger from, the ki gathering to a glowing point.

"Take this!" she yelled, firing the finger beam. Gohan dropped down, the beam cutting a few of his hairs off.

With a battle cry she dove down on him, fists raised. Bracing himself, Gohan prepared to parry, only for the girl to flip in the air, slowing herself slightly but throwing momentum into the kick, coming down toward his head.

Gohan caught her heel in his hand, wincing at the impact.

"What?!" She cried out, trying to jerk her leg from his grip. Gohan turned and pulled her with him, swinging the girl, who gave a cry. Letting her go, she went flying, slowing herself down enough she only grunted when she impacted one of the palace towers. Then Gohan slammed into her, burying a punch into her chest, driving the air from her lungs. Crying out, he rained down punches on the stunned alien. Hardly noticing the gathering yellow light.

The finger beam struck him in the stomach, making him cry out and driving him back.

Zangya growled, pressing her elbows against the wall and pushing herself out from the dent she had made. Her clothing mussed and her struck check swelling slightly, she looked at Gohan, who pressed a hand to where the finger beam struck him.

Blood, but not deep, she realized. It hadn't even been close to going through him.

Frowning, she felt something on her lips and wiped it away with the back of her hand. Red Heran blood caught the alien sunlight from the back of her hand.

"…Hey, Son Gohan?" she said, spitting blood out to the side.

"Giving up?" he demanded.

"Heh, no. But maybe we can work something out. Only Herans can be Elite Soldiers of the Domination, but there are plenty of jobs for talented members of other races. You're pretty strong, if I put in a good word for you maybe Lord Bojack will let me take you under my wing as a lackey," he said.

"I'm not interested in money, and I don't care if I've impressed you," Gohan answered.

"Then what do you want?" she demanded, powering up. Gohan answered, powering up himself.

"I already told you, I want you to stop tormenting this planet! I don't like bullies and I'm not interested in being one."

"You're crazy, there's no point to having power if you don't use it get what you want!"

"The strongest fighter I know never stooped to picking on the weak to get his way. And he's shot past plenty of people who think like you do."

"Fine! Be that way," Zangya said, her ki gathering quicker.

"Trap blaster!" she called her attack as she flung her hands out in rapid strikes.

Multiple ki blasts shot out toward Gohan, who shot up in the air to dodge them. Zangya grinned at Gohan, who was puzzled as the blasts streaked away. Feeling the hairs on his neck stand on end, Gohan looked back and saw the blasts had curved and were heading straight for him.

"Oh, crapbas-" Gohan said, dodging the two leading blasts only to get hammered by the ones behind it.

Zangya laughed as the string of explosive blasts went off and Gohan was sent streaking past the palace into the forest. The laugh turned into a wheeze, and Zangya slouched, rubbing sweat off her head.

"Well, that was a bit of a work out. That kid alone was as tough as their whole army. Shame he didn't- What!?" she shouted, feeling a spike in ki energy.

Shooting past the palace, she made her way to the forest of purple trees, easily spotting the path cleaved by Gohan through the branches and even toppling an old tree.

And there he stood, his clothes messed up and a few cuts and bruises forming. But still alive and glaring at her. Breathing heavy, but she wasn't so fresh herself.

"What, no comment Zangya? I'm thinking it's been awhile since you have had to deal with someone who can push back, right?" Gohan said, taking a step toward her. Zangya frowned, then smirked.

"Well, guess I will just have to get serous then. Call yourself special for that," she cackled. Turning to her left, she shot off across the sky.

In the direction their ship was, Gohan realized with a panic.

Flying as fast as he could, he broke through the canopy and caught sight of Zangya heading toward the horizon. Thankfully she wasn't heading towards the ship, but a ship. At first he thought it was a building; it looked to be a stone dome capped by a copper-colored metal pyramid, but it was standing on spider like metal legs, and a door was open in the side when he landed, through which he could glimpse screens and controls panels. Zangya appeared in the doorway, fixing a tiara on her head.

"You'll regret not cutting and running while you could, boy. You see this here? It's called a focus," Zangya said, tapping the white jewel now centered on her forehead, "This lovely accessory helps Heran warriors perform more complex techniques we can't achieve the sufficient level of focus for. Impressive, no?"

"Seems more like a cheap shortcut," Gohan remarked.

"How's this for cheap?" she snapped, flaring her ki. He didn't sense her power level rising, but the jewel in the tiara turned yellow and started to glow.

Not wanting to let her finish whatever she was doing, Gohan charged at her, stance ready to react. As he closed the distance, the jewel flashed to a brighter level and he suddenly felt her power level boost in that one point.

"Psycho threads!" she called out, swinging her hands toward him. Ki erupted from her fingertips like threads. And with her hand motions, the extending strings closed in from both sides. He only had a split second to turn his next step into a leap. The strings wrapped around his legs, and he fell to the ground. The face plant hurt more than it should. And as he pushed himself up from the ground, he could feel it.

His ki was being drained away.

"Ha! One of the ultimate techniques of the Herans! Once caught in them, even the mightiest foes are soon reduced to mewling weaklings ready for slaughter," Zangya cackled. She grinned as Gohan trembled, as if a great weight was pressing down on him.

"Thought you could be a hero? You should have just bartered for supplies, or taken my offer. But you know what? This has been an eyeopener — I have just been resting on my laurels since I tore up this planet's defenses. The fact those ponies asked a loser like you to help them shows they really don't respect what they have in me. So once we are done here, I think I'll teach them a few lessons. Hmm, I think being a teacher might suit me, don't you think, Son Gohan of Earth?" she mocked, walking closer to him.

Gohan closed his eyes, and his thoughts rampaged in his head.

'Idiot, if you'd just gotten Krillin this wouldn't be happening! I mean, she's right — what am I doing, trying to be a hero or something?! I'm nothing like Dad! I'm not even brave enough to stand and face this like Mr. Piccolo.

'…She's going to kill me. Dad died to save the world from Raditz. Mr. Piccolo died for me. Tien and Chiatazou gave everything. But this… all I've done is make things worse for this planet. Even if Krillin stops her, then I'll be dead, another burden, a problem for them to fix!

'I'm just a kid! I shouldn't have to deal with stuff like this!

'But no one made me be here. No one would have thought anything of it if I didn't go into space. Mom was furious, wanting me to stay home and let them handle it. I can't say I'm just a kid. I chose to leave that safety when it was offered. Not because I wanted an adventure like my dad. But because, I can't stand doing nothing when others are paying the price!'

 **X X X**

Zangya snickered and forced her smile as she felt his ki seal down even tighter. Soon he would be weak enough that the threads would tear him apart.

The forced expression hurt from the hits her face had taken. She hated this technique; in her training it had been used against her so many times. They said it was to keep her from getting cocky, but they could hardly talk.

It wasn't even a clever dirty tactic, just a trap.

And it was so messy to finish with. Not a clean break, like simply blasting someone apart in a glorious singular death, or a proper pounding of warriors against warrior. It was like an execution, spectacle as horrific and attention grabbing as a ship crashing inevitably into the surface. Hardly a fitting way to end a warrior that had pushed her this far. Even if she hated him for making her resort to it.

She noticed something was off, and let her smirk vanish for a natural frown.

Had he… stopped breathing?

Cocking her head, she took a step forward, careful to keep the threads tight.

The technique was still working, so he hadn't died, but she couldn't hear any…

"RAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Gohan screamed, jerking back up from where he had slumped from the ground. Zangya nearly stumbled at the sound erupting through the silence, wincing and thanking her training for not putting her hands to her ears.

And his ki — the trickle she felt through her threads was growing stronger? That shouldn't happen, she thought, no one could resist the technique. Some like Lord Bojack were powerful enough that even if two of his elites used it on him it would hardly slow him down before he could counterattack and break the technique. But one did not push it back!

"What?!" she cried out in confusion, growing cold down her back as the air whipped around Gohan and he managed to stand despite his bound legs. Clenching her teeth, Zangya focused on the technique, trying to will it to work right, trying to feel whatever flaw she had overlooked in executing it.

The power surged again, stronger than it was to start with, and actually running up the threads.

But the technique didn't actually drain power, Zangya thought, watching her threads be corrupted before her eyes. They said that to throw people off. The threads actually sealed your power, keeping you from harnessing it. It wasn't actually a conduit leading back to the user!

The ki didn't seem to care about that fact, and with a cry of panic Zangya jerked her hands, cutting off the ki construct from her body before it exploded.

The explosion knocked her up into the air, not enough to wound her, and she expertly twisted in the air to land on her feet and one hand at the foot of her ship's gangplank. No damage, but she had lost all the ki that went into those threads! But still, he had blown the threads up, and he was tied up so-

Gohan charged out of the smoke, snarling. Zangya barely brought up an arm to block his punch, he closed the distance so quick. And he didn't stop glaring at her; wide-eyed and snarling, he just kept pummeling her, her blocks barely able to keep up.

Zangya grit her own teeth, trying to understand how he could be faster after all that. And stronger — her arms were taking a beating.

Gohan's mouth closed, a grim look warning her something was going to happen. She stepped back to evade the kick he tried to hit her right leg with. She cleared that blow, but his fist went past her guard, hammering into her chest. Zangya exhaled hard as the air was forced from her lungs.

And that was just the start. Gohan was yelling again as he forced the girl back up her gangplank, raining blows across her torso and face.

Zangya reeled, charging ki in one hand. Her opponent struck her with something like a slap to the face, and she took that as an opening, firing blind, trusting pointblank range to do its magic.

The blast worked. The blows stopped falling, and Zangya blinked the colors from her vision, retreating back up the gangplank.

She saw him, Son Gohan! He was at the base of the gangplank, and she was at the door to the ship now. And he was holding… her tiara?! She started, realizing that last blow had been him grabbing it.

Flaring ki in that hand, he tightened his grip, eyes fixed on her, and the focuser buckled and bent in his grip. The center reduced to twisted, sparking metal, he let the ruined device fall to the ground and start smoking there.

Snarling, Zangya screamed, powering up. She raised her hands up above and in front of her right shoulders, pressing her fingertips together. Gohan pressed his index and middle finger to his brow.

"YOU BRAT! I'M GONNA WIPE YOU OUT!" the Heran screamed, ki sparks flinging between her palms and a prick of yellow light igniting in the space.

Gohan said nothing, ki starting to visibly gather across his body, flowing to his hand. Zangya snarled and swung her hands across her body, energy bursting to life in her hand, yellow light pressing against its cage.

"Beauty Blast!" she called out, swinging her whole body to hurl the ki sphere at Gohan.

"Makakansappo!"

The leaking yellow sphere collided with the swirling beam of ki. For a few moments they stopped, the spiral pressing and the sphere buckling under the pressure. Enough time for Zangya to blink. Then the sphere burst and the beam shot through the explosion, striking Zangya and sending her up into her ship.

 **X X X**

The beam tore through the roof of the ship, which exploded in crimson fire, Gohan leaping back and turning from the blast as debris rained down around him.

"That had better be it," he growled. As the clearing started to catch fire, Gohan focused his senses and groaned, feeling a faint thrum. Zangya was alive. Teeth gritted, he took flight over the burning spaceship. She didn't seem to be moving.

He spotted her quick enough, just outside the far side of the meadow, bending over a torn up tree she had apparently torn through and nestled into a huge dent in another, its red leaves falling down around her.

Landing on top of the destroyed tree, Gohan looked down at the alien invader.

Zangya was a mess. A good bit of her orange hair was smoldering, and the spiral had torn up her shirt from about her navel to the base of her neck, leaving her skin bloodied and burned. Her ki was low, and her hard breathing and trembling made it clear she was exhausted.

If she were older, he might feel a need to look away from the gash. But she was just a kid, and she wasn't just breathing hard, he realized, as droplets started to fall from her lowered face.

"Do it!" she shouted suddenly, making him tense up. Glaring up at him, confirmed she was crying.

"If you are waiting for me to beg for my life, forget it! I may be a weakling, but I will not disgrace my mother or my vito by begging! So finish me off!" she demanded.

'Mother,' Gohan thought, the word striking through his fury. That and the tears, and that she was a kid, too.

"No," Gohan said. He could feel the aching of his own wounds start to creep back in.

"What? Oh, going to try and recruit me? I suppose it makes sense, you were lying before right? You work for King Cold or someone right? Well no dice, Herans serve their Lord. So get on with it," she sighed.

Gohan rubbed his eyes, pondering what he should say. His dad would just do something on impulse and make it work, but that wasn't a talent he had inherited.

"I didn't lie. All I want is for you to leave these people in peace," he said.

"Then kill me and get what you want," Zangya snapped.

"I don't need to. I beat you, and you've lost your focus tiara and any other tricks you had in that ship. As the winner, the prize I claim is for your word to leave these people in peace."

"…You're just passing through. So who says I won't just kill all of them once you're gone?"

"I'll stop back to check. And if you have broken your word, then… well, maybe then I'll have to kill you," he sighed

"Why take the chance when you can just do it now?! Are you mocking me!? Trying to say you're so strong, that even alive I can't hope to defy you because you're too scary to think to cross!? What is your game!" she demanded, trying and failing to get to her feet.

"I don't think you're as bad as you act," Gohan said. That stunned her to silence. He pressed on.

"So far, it seems you only killed people who were bad guys. And the kind of guys who take extra slices of cake, whatever that means. But you could have started killing the people right away, but you seemed happy to just rob them and eat their food. You're a jerk, but I don't think you hurt people because you like it. My dad has a lot of friends, most of them were jerks when they met him. A few were even villains. But they didn't stay that way. They changed.

"I didn't really get that until I met Mr. Piccolo. He was a terror on our world, or his father was. My father killed his father to save us all from his tyranny. And Mr. Piccolo had lived his whole life to avenge his father and carry on his evil ways. My dad defeated him but spared his life, and for me that was the end of the story until the day I met him. He killed my father, and he took me away. He trained me to serve him, and to humiliate my dad. It was terrifying, a nightmare. The monsters, bad guys and the wild were just scary stories to me before that."

Zangya looked puzzled. His rambling was only confusing her it seemed, but she didn't interrupt.

"It was the best time of my life," he said. It was strange but good to say it. Zangya looked like she had been slapped.

"I didn't think that then. It was horrible at first. Everything was so hard, so different from everything my life had been. But I survived, and I learned to do better. Sometimes he taught me, other times I figured it out myself. I had to grow strong; the only other option was dying. But I realized as time went on that Mr. Piccolo was always there. And as harsh as it could be, he never let me die, only asked the hard not the impossible of me, and when he thought I wasn't looking even helped me in small ways. Being his student was different from being my parent's kid. He didn't want to protect me, even if he did sometimes. He wanted to make me more.

"And then he died. He died to save me, Zangya. And the last words he said to me was that he couldn't let me die, because I was his only friend. He could have killed me to keep me from avenging my dad like he did his, or because of how much he hated my dad. But he didn't. And I would have died if my dad hadn't spared his life. In fact, if Mr. Piccolo was killed back then, my dad would have died for nothing and Earth would probably be dead by now.

"Dad killed lots of people, but sometimes mercy was better. I'm here cause of it. So I think I'll take a chance. Why don't you just go back home to your friends?" he asked, running out of words for his little speech.

Zangya flinched and mumbled. Then spoke up.

"I don't have any," she said.

"You don't? What about those soldiers?" Gohan asked.

"They're not friends. My mother gave me to them to make me strong. That's what they care about. If I die here they won't care, why would they? I'm just an apprentice soldier. Me dying doesn't hurt their reputation. They'll just nod their heads and say I would never have been worthy to be one of them, and dying to some no one on a no-name planet just proves it," she started to sob.

"So just go ahead and finish me off. We'll both be better off because unlike your Piccolo, I've got nothing if I'm not strong," she admitted. She was not even trying to hold back her crying now. It was hard to look at her and not see another kid who was hurt and upset.

'What would Dad do?' Gohan thought frantically.

"Would you like to be friends?" the words were out before he could consider them.

"What?" she asked, shocked and puffy-eyed. Though for the right eye at least, it looked like it was swelling shut from one of his hits.

"Well, I don't have any friends my own age, and you don't have any, you just said. And it wasn't so bad fighting you, until you used that jewelry to cheat. Lots of people I know fight for fun," Gohan flinched a bit when he smiled, "Though not so rough, maybe?"

"…What happened to stopping me? Making me leave these ponies in peace?"

"Well, if you want to be my friend you can't do bad things like that. An if you don't do bad things, you can be my friend?" the seven year old asked, stepping down from the broken tree to stand in front of the alien girl.

Keeping his smile, he held out his hand; she looked at it. She cocked her head again, showing more of her messed up hair. Gohan sniffed, and his smile slipped.

"What's that smell?" Gohan commented. Zangya took a sniff herself of the awful odor, and as if on cue, chunks of her singed hair burst into flame. Zangya blinked, then shrieked, pushing him aside as she ran toward her ship, her injuries seemingly forgotten in her rush.

Puzzled, Gohan watched her go, and kick over a few pieces of rubble until she found a metal cylinder that had seemingly survived the explosion. Pulling a string on it, a hissing filled the air, and the cylinder's top popped loud enough for him to flinch. Blue foam exploded outward, drenching the clearing and the burning wreck, which Gohan realized was a very good thing, forest fires bad and all. And left Zangya standing in the middle of the rapidly vanishing foam, drenched in it.

The hair fire was very extinguished now, he had to admit.

"You, help me find the Aid Kit. It should have survived," Zangya demanded, pointing a foam-coated finger. Gohan couldn't help but laugh; she sounded so serious while coated from head to toe in blue bubbly foam!

 **X X X**

The metal suitcase-like box Zangya wanted had survived the ship exploding. Gohan was fascinated — it was white with a red spiral symbol on it. What were the chances another galaxy would use the same colors?

Zangya seemed to want to ignore him now, and after drying herself off with the towel from the kit, ordered him to leave so she could undress to dress her wounds. Her words, not his.

She had never answered his question, and maybe that was for the best? He didn't think it had been that easy even in his dad's stories. But she didn't seem to want to cause any more trouble, so he supposed that was good enough for now.

Flying away, he wondered what to do, and decided he should head back to the city. Let them know things were okay now.

Flying through the sky toward the city, Gohan tried to figure out where he met Abbicus on the outskirts, only to hear hundreds of thundering hooves and see a massive rolling cloud of dirt.

A crowd, er, herd was leaving the city heading toward him.

As Gohan descended, they quieted down, coming to a halt. Some shifted nervously, more watched Gohan with an intense curiosity. Gohan landed and awkwardly waved at the crowd, "Um… Hi?"

"Son Gohan!" Abbicus said, stepping to the font of the crowd, her husband hanging back with the others.

"We saw you fighting the Dreaded Dread One. Explosions, exploding! Is it done and finished?" she asked, wringing her four-fingered hands.

Gohan considered confirming Zangya was still alive, but they hadn't asked that.

"Yes, she will not bother you anymore," he said. He really hoped it was true, but they didn't know what he was thinking and proceeded to break out in jubilation.

The ponies cheered, "Gohan! Gohan!"

Gohan was swept up in a whirlwind of activity. Abbicus was thanking him profusely, shaking his hands, while hundreds of the ponies were gathering food and preparing a great feast while they spread word that the crisis was over.

He was only able to divert them from practically crowning him a king or something by insisting he needed to leave soon, and reiterate the need for supplies. That diverted them to a useful task and let him slip away.

He wanted to go back to Krillin and Bulma. They were probably starting to worry, especially Krillin if he sensed any of the fight. But having promised Zangya wouldn't cause any more trouble, he needed to check on her. And to make sure she was okay too.

It was easy enough to find the wreck of her ship, but he couldn't sense Zangya herself anywhere, even checking the area on foot. He found the aid kit, mostly emptied, by a tree and some blood stained towels. So she had dressed her wounds and left.

Wincing, he admitted that sounded pretty good. He didn't touch any of the remaining pill bottles, and especially not the tiny syringes all labeled in alien writing. But the remaining bandages and patches he made use of.

Done with that, he sat with his back to the tree and closed his eyes for just a second's rest.

It was dark when he woke up.

 **X X X**

Gohan had been glad for sensing ki, worried he would not be able find the ship now that night had fallen. Now he saw he had not needed to worry — several bonfires were burning around the ship, and a few red fireworks were even being launched. The Mokets had found the ship and delivered the supplies, and it seemed they had decided to carry on with their party right away instead of going back to the city.

Gohan flew over the celebrating horse-people, who were impressively dancing with their four legs and eating food from buffet lines or roasting skewers of vegetables over the bonfires. They spotted him and started to cheer.

"Mighty Gohan the Mighty has returned! Urra!" they cheered with several variations thereof. Blushing at the cheers, Gohan just waved back and made his way to a table set up at the base of the ship, where Bulma and Krillin were seated. Bulma still looked a bit pale and was shoving her food around the plate with a fork, but Krillin, however he might have felt, was chowing down on the feast.

"Gohan!" Krillin called out, catching sight of him. Gohan smiled, landing in front of the table.

"What happened? You're a mess!" Bulma said, standing up a bit from her chair, "Did you really fight a monster?"

"She wasn't a monster. Uh, can we go?" Gohan asked, as a crown of flowers was placed on his head by one of the alien women.

 **X X X**

Krillin was a bit reluctant to leave the party, but Bulma seemed eager enough to be gone. The Mokets had already loaded crates of food onto the ship; the party had started when they ran out of room on the ship and decided to use the remainder for a feast on the spot, Gohan had learned.

So with supplies loaded, they could leave as soon as Bulma got behind the controls.

The hardest part was the Mokets. He had to promise them he'd be back someday for them to properly celebrate him. They also pledged to have a statue of him ready for when he got back.

It was a relief to get away from all that, Gohan thought, slumping down against one of the supply crates to sit on the floor. He did wish he could have talked more with Zangya, but they had to get to Namek.

"Sooo," Krillin said, taking a seat next to Gohan.

"So?" Gohan asked back at his friend.

"Come on! Parties over you can't just leave me in suspense! I mean, are you sure you don't want a senzu bean? You look like you had a sparring match with Nappa! What happened down there? The Mokets, they were…"

"Redundant?" Gohan offered.

"Said a lot without saying very much," Krillin admitted. He was still looking at Gohan eagerly. Yeah, Gohan admitted his friend wasn't going to give up on getting the story. With the big deal the Mokets had made and his wounds, he couldn't just brush it off.

Well, he supposed he could just start at the beginning with Abbicus and her family…

The food crate they were reclining against smacked into them as it slid forward. The two sprang to their feet in surprise and looked in puzzlement as the crate tiled around and slid. Gohan blinked, wondering if that was a muffled voice he was hearing?

A ki signature flared to life in the crate. Gohan recognized it just before the crate's top blew to a weak ki blast and it toppled forward, spilling its contents. Zangya spilled out on the floor with a bunch of snack bags, several of them open and empty, others spilling their contents all over the floor.

"YOU!" she said, springing to her feet and jabbing a finger into Gohan's chest.

She seemed to have given up her shirt and vest as lost causes, her torso covered in white wrappings from just below her arms to just above her belt. Said belt was only holding up tattered shorts that were the sole remains of her pants. Her charred hairdo still swung behind her, and her face was peppered with bandaids with her right eye covered by a white bandage patch.

"How dare you!? Just who do you think you are!?" she shouted in his face.

"Uh, I-"

"You beat me up! You destroy my ship! You offer to be my friend!? And mess up my hair! Then you think you can just leave? That you can just fly off into space leaving me on a planet I tried to dominate and now have to play nice with?! Like that wouldn't be awkward!? Well tough luck, Son Gohan! You are not off the hook for anything! And we can start with you owing me a ride anywhere but here! And I'm taking these snacks!" she declared with a huff. Nose raised up to the air she scooped up as many bags as her two arms could hold and walked to the back of the room. Sitting down pointedly with her back to the wall, she dropped her snacks into her lap and kept her eyes on them as she opened the first bag with a tear.

"So, that's what you did?" Bulma said. Krillin and Gohan turned to see her standing there, having apparently left the piloting area, "You beat her and asked her to be your friend?"

"…Was that wrong?" Gohan asked, wilting and pressing his index fingers together.

"Uh, actually-" Krillin said, rubbing the back of his head.

"I'm glad you made a friend," Bulma interrupted. She was giving Gohan a smile that made him think she was not all there right now. Closing her eyes, she gave a nod.

"You really are your father's son, you know?" she told him, and grabbing a bag of snacks from the floor she walked toward Zangya's spot, ignoring the way Zangya scrambled to gather up all her snacks close as Bulma took a seat next to her.

Gohan found himself smiling. For the first time since Raditz, it felt like things were going well.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 _I wasn't a DBZ fan when I was younger, but I got into DBZA and later into Dragon Ball. So being me, that lead to a desire to do a fanfic. Several ideas came and went; but never rally made he jump from ideas to stories. This one was inspired by Smashing Skunk's AU with Gohan and a younger Zangya meeting. With their permission, and assistance, this fic was born._

 _If you are worried this took time from warping up Queen don't. This chapter was finished months ago, I wanted to take care of some things before posting._


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